I’m now using my laptop …windows 7…to record with an external Samsun USB mic. When I used the old system it was great…now it doesn’t work and I get a lot of distortion and noise. All drivers are up to date. I noticed on the Preferences/Devices, I have for Interface: Windows Direct Sound; Playback; Speakers(context high definition)/Primary Sound Driver/SPDIF Interface) Which one do I use? On Recording/Device, I have (Primary Sound Capture Driver/Microphone Context High Definition). Which one do I use?? I noticed there is no Samsun USB microphone added. How can I add it for recording? Channels: I have stereo. Is that one ok?
I didn’t have to do so much with the old Audacity…it just seemed to work! I really need to start recording again.
Yes, but microphones aren’t stereo, unless yours is special. They’re mono.
Your microphone should show up in the Windows Control Panels as USB Sound Device or something like that. If you can’t find it, Audacity may never find it.
Plug the microphone in, start Audacity (in that order) and use the Audacity device drop-down and see if you can find the microphone there.
If the distortion occurs when recording from the internal microphone, try turning the input slider down in Audacity Mixer Toolbar (the slider on the right in this image):
You want to choose “Speakers(context high definition)” for output device.
If you want to record any input belonging to the laptop’s own sound device other than the internal microphone, you have to follow the steps you were given previously to enable other devices in Windows.
If you have your Samson USB mic connected and Windows recognised it, click Transport > Rescan Audio Devices in Audacity then the Samson should appear in Audacity’s list of input devices. It is often more convenient to connect a USB or other external device before starting Audacity, then Audacity will always see the external device.
If the Samson model you have is mono, you can change that control to mono. If the mic is mono but you record in stereo, you will probably get two identical channels (left and right the same). It won’t sound any different than if you recorded in mono.
